After his arrival in LA, Tran was unable to procure a hot sauce that went well with pho, the traditional Vietnamese noodle dish. Other Vietnamese and South East Asian immigrants in his area were also missing “Sriracha”-style sauce, a blend of chili peppers, vinegar, garlic, sugar and salt (though Hoy Fong’s Sriracha is synonymous with Sriracha sauce, Sriracha is actually a type of hot sauce originating in Eastern Thailand, not a specific brand name). Tran decided to fill the void on his own, perfecting his recipe after a few months of trial-and-error and eventually distributing it to local markets in baby jars.